Description

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER The extraordinary memoir of a peasant boy raised in rural Maoist China who was plucked from his village to study ballet and went on to become one of the greatest dancers of his generation. From a desperately poor village in northeast China, at age eleven, Li Cunxin was chosen by Madame Mao's cultural delegates to be taken from his rural home and brought to Beijing, where he would study ballet. In 1979, the young dancer arrived in Texas as part of a cultural exchange, only to fall in love with America-and with an American woman. Two years later, through a series of events worthy of the most exciting cloak-and-dagger fiction, he defected to the United States, where he quickly became known as one of the greatest ballet dancers in the world. This is his story, told in his own inimitable voice. THE BASIS FOR A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE"show more

About Li Cunxin

Li Cunxin was born in a small village near the city of Qingdao, in northern China. At eighteen, he was selected to perform at the Houston Ballet, which led to a dramatic defection to the United States. He has performed as a soloist with the Houston Ballet and as a principal artist with the Australian Ballet.show more

Review quote

[A] fascinating memoir told simply but passionately, with subtle humor and unguarded emotion. The Houston Chronicle MixBilly ElliotwithTorn Curtainand you ll have some of the tale in very broad outline well-paced full of adventures. Kirkus Reviews Fascinating reading unfolds with honesty, humor, and a quiet dignity. This book has wide appeal, for it concerns not only a dancer s coming of age in a turbulent time but also individual strength, self-discovery, and the triumph of the human spirit. Library Journal The facts of his life are astonishing on their own, but what makes Li Cunxin s engrossing autobiography so captivating is his enthusiastic retelling of every twist and turn. Vogue(Australia)"show more

Table of contents

Mao's Last DancerA Wedding: Qingdao, 1946
Part One: My Childhood
1. Home
2. My Niang and Dia
3. A Commune Childhood
4. The Seven of Us
5. Na-na
6. Chairman Mao's Classroom
7. Leaving Home
Part Two: Beijing
8. Feather in a Whirlwind
9. The Caged Bird
10. That First Lonely Year
11. The Pen
12. My Own Voice
13. Teacher Xiao's Words
14. Turning Points
15. The Mango
16. Change
17. On the Way to the West
18. The Filthy Capitalist America
19. Good-bye, China
Part Three: The West
20. Return to the Land of Freedom
21. Elizabeth
22. Defection
23. My New Life
24. A Millet Dream Come True
25. No More Nightmares
26. Russia
27. Mary
28. Going Home
29. Back in My Village
30. Another Wedding: Qingdao, 1988
Postscript
The Li Family Tree
Acknowledgmentsshow more

Customer reviews

This auto-biography is wonderful. It captures the truly beautiful nature of dance, love and big dreams. It makes you wish for such a dream, a goal, that you would do anything to achieve. Li Cuxin captivates the reader, and envelops them into a world of ballet, triumph and desperation.
This book is inspiring and a wonderful read, to this day remaining as one of my all time favourite books.show more